The 'Sing' hitmaker admits he wasn't very good in school because he thought it was ''pointless'' after he became obsessed with music.

He told The Sunday Telegraph newspaper: ''My dad always used to have a go at me for not working hard. And it wasn't that - it's just that I didn't see any point in working hard for those particular things. As soon as I found music, that's what I worked hard at. But when you're trying to teach a kid trigonometry, and that kid's saying, 'when am I going to use this?', and they don't have an answer. There were just certain things that seemed pointless. So I never really applied myself.''

The British star is gearing up to release his new album, 'x,' later this month and credits Adele and One Direction for inspiring him to try to crack America.

He explained: ''I'm a very competitive person. When I see that someone else can't do it, it just makes me want to do it more.''

Ed's new album includes a track, 'Don't' about a high profile ex-girlfriend that cheated on him with another celebrity, widely rumoured to be about Ellie Goulding.

He is worried about how the mystery woman will react even though he forewarned her.

He said: ''I just said, 'just so you know, there is a song.' And they said, 'expected that.' Cause of the situation. You know, I didn't lie at all. It's 100 per cent true.''

But he added: ''I don't hold grudges. I'm completely over it. I'm fine with the situation. It was just quite an insulting thing at the time. And I felt the need to express myself I guess.''